The 2025 Ford Explorer Is Much Improved—But Can It Claw Back to the Top?

Quick: What dropped in 1990, has sold more than 8 million copies, and cemented itself as a core memory for Americans of a certain age? If you said Vanilla Ice's To the Extreme, you’re right. But so did the Ford Explorer, which quickly replaced lame station wagons as the family shuttle of choice all those decades ago.

Of course, all those kids grew up, and they now probably listen to Kenny Chesney or whatever, but many kept on Explorer-ing, especially once they had kids of their own. Ford’s SUV is now on its sixth generation, which made its debut in 2019 and marked a return to its rear-drive-based roots. The problem for Ford is this Explorer hasn’t been particularly competitive, and what was once America’s SUV has fallen to the back of the pack, recently finishing dead last in a MotorTrend seven-vehicle Big Test and likewise placing 11th in our Ultimate Car Rankings of three-row SUVs.

Blame a cheap-feeling interior, an unrefined overall feel, and a lack of cutting-edge technology. The good news for Explorer fans is that Ford addressed all three of these areas with the 2025 model we just drove. But did the company do enough to put the Explorer back on top?

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What Didn’t Need to be Fixed?

First, however, let’s start with what the sixth-gen Explorer already did well. Like the pre-2025 model, the new one is roomy, has an easy-to-access third row, and is generally handsome. The cargo area offers a nice-size underfloor bin, there are fold-flat second- and third-row seats—the latter with quick, one-touch power operation in ritzier trims—and forward visibility from the comfortable front seats is good. The sporty ST model is genuinely fun to drive for a three-row SUV, with responsive steering and a powerful twin-turbo V-6.

That 400-hp, 415-lb-ft V-6 is now the top option with the discontinuation of the hybrid powertrain, and the lineup has been simplified to just four trims: Active, ST-Line, Platinum, and ST. The V-6 is standard on the ST and available on the Platinum. But Active and ST-Line buyers will get by just fine with their 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. It makes 300 horsepower and 310-lb-ft, plenty to scoot the two-plus-ton Explorer away from the line with authority.

The Explorer is rated to tow 5,000 pounds with either engine, as well, and the 10-speed automatic transmission used across the lineup is smooth and generally smart about gear selection. Our only real complaint is that the four-cylinder's aggressive exhaust note sounds hilariously overwrought, especially in Sport mode.

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Now, What About the Changes?

The Explorer’s interior has been redesigned, but it hasn’t suddenly been transformed into an aspirational, upscale place to be. Instead, there are more soft materials in high-visibility and high-touch areas—except in the third row, which still has hard plastic armrests—and a more interesting and functional aesthetic. It seems the designers borrowed from the Maverick compact pickup’s brief in bringing a varied mix of textures, colors, and shapes to the Explorer, elevating mundane plastics to something greater than the sum of its parts. There are hexagonal patterns on certain trims' door cards and seats, there’s a cloth “speaker bar” spanning the dash, and the prominent new stripe of silver plastic trim is dressed up with ridging and Explorer badging. Some cheap-seeming bits remain—the second-row fold-down cupholders for one—but the ambience is much improved.

Also helping the cause are a pair of digital panels standard on all versions, a 12.3-inch unit devoted to driver information and a 13.2-inch touchscreen that serves as the infotainment display. There’s also a new central shelf that can hold two large smartphones, the left side of which is a wireless charging pad in upper trims. It’s super handy, enough so that we can forgive that it leaves the top of the phones poking out to get baked by noontime sun.

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Driving Feels Better

The Explorer’s somewhat scattershot and unrefined driving manners seem to have been tamed in the 2025 model. An accelerator that we’ve criticized as too jumpy feels more appropriately matched to a three-row family SUV, even if it is still eager. In past sixth-generation Explorers, we also noted grabby brakes and uneven ride quality, but during our afternoon of driving the 2025 model, the brakes never called attention to themselves. Among four examples we drove, all but one rode just fine even over rutted and pockmarked dirt roads. The exception was the base Active model; it was acceptable, too, but demonstrated more wheel flutter and patter.

The Explorer is easy to place in your lane and to park, and the steering is accurate and not too heavy. There are of course multiple drive modes that few if any owners will ever use, including Off-Road and Sport, though these do meaningfully alter the Explorer’s responses. We did some light off-roading on sloppy two-tracks, and it’s clear that even in Normal mode, the new Explorer is perfectly capable of getting you and your kin to that cabin in the woods.

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Upgraded Tech

Besides the aforementioned standard screens, which make this SUV at least feel with the times if not futuristic, the 2025 Explorer is the first Ford model to receive the Ford Digital Experience infotainment software. The heavily customizable suite is based on Android Automotive and can be as calm or as info-dense as you like. Myriad apps are available via the Google Play store, including Webex functionality (it can play video when parked), an app that can read out information on roadside attractions and landmarks as you pass by, the ability to play video games, and video functionality via Prime, Peacock, MGM+, and more. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are along for the ride, too.

Version 1.2 of Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free highway driving assist is now available on ST-Line, Platinum, and ST models. Customers can purchase one year of access at a discount right off the bat or make do with a 90-day trial that leads into a monthly plan. Ford says BlueCruise 1.2 works on 97 percent of controlled access highways in the U.S. and Canada, and we were able to use it extensively during our drive. As we’ve found in other Ford and Lincoln vehicles, it’s one of the better systems on the market, and although you need to maintain your focus on the road ahead, it can really take the fatigue out of long highway slogs. Compared with before, 1.2 adds hands-free lane changes—just tap the turn signal, and the Explorer will move to the new lane for you—and in-lane repositioning, which will nudge the vehicle to one side or the other to make more room for, say, a semi on your right that’s too close for comfort. We asked, but no word on when BlueCruise will offer fully automated lane changes as do some GM and Mercedes vehicles.

It’s Better, But Is It Competitive?

Beyond the things we’ve already mentioned, other gripes are that the second-row seats require real muscle to return to their fully upright and locked position once they’ve been tilted forward and that the cargo area's tie-down rings are made of a flexible plastic that feels destined for a short lifespan. These are small demerits. Overall, Ford has meaningfully updated the Explorer and brought it more in line with the expectations of the segment. We’ll have to wait until a fresh comparison test to see if the 2025 model has surpassed the competition, but longtime Explorer—and Vanilla Ice—fans should be pleased.